100 Know Fear
The background is white. ; Panel 1 Zane is in the back room of the antiques shop, leaning on the door with his arms out to the side against the wall. He's trembling all over and sweating heavily, and his face is tilted up, with the back of his head pressed against the door. He's apparently taken off his coat, and is wearing his usual shirt and suspenders. His eyes are small, blank circles and his expression is stunned. One thought bubble says, in red text, "*I* did it." Another one says, also in red text, "The pattern is telling me." A larger thought bubble, with larger, normally-colored text and a series of dots connecting the bubble and Zane's head, reads "Not a violent man. I've been under a lot of stress." Another speech bubble, connected to the previous two speech bubbles, reads in smaller, red text "*I* killed Maris." His thoughts are all written without punctuation, as if he's thinking quickly and disjointedly. Mercy is hovering in front of Zane, flapping her wings down and making "eee! eee! eee!" noises. In the foreground, on the desk, are Zane's old dream diary, the Aa-Al edition of the Encyclopedia Atlantica, a large book with a blue cover and the Ta - To edition of the Encyclopedia Atlantica piled on top of it, open with the cover facing up. The room is dark, and the coloring is mottled and gently shaded. ; Panel 2. A thought bubble, with the text the usual size and color and a line of bubbles connecting it with Zane's head, reads "Planchett had been under my *skin* for a while now." Another, smaller thought bubble also connected by a line of bubbles to Zane's head, reads in small, red text "Skin." Zane, still trembling and sweating, turns his head quickly to the side, raising one hand in front of his chest in a protective gesture. ; Panel 3. One of the drawers on the right side of Zane's desk has a cross-shaped white gleam on the metallic handle, which stands out against the dark room. A thought bubble reads in small, red text "Holes in dreams." A connected thought bubble reads in normally sized and colored text, "Was just blowing off steam, like people do." A third thought bubble, connected to the previous one, reads in small, red text, "Three holes." ; Panel 4. A thought bubble reads, in small, red text, "I'm scared." Another thought bubble reads, in normally-sized and colored text, "I was scared, lost control." Another thought bubble, connected to the previous one, reads, in normally sized but dark red text, "I felt threatened." A third connected thought bubble reads, in small, red text, "I am the threat." Zane's trembling hand grasps the drawer handle and starts to pull it open. ; Panel 5. A thought bubble connected to Zane's head by a series of dots reads, first in dark red, "Wanted to get my memory back." Then a connected thought bubble continues, in red, "Had to know fear." A third connected thought bubble reads, in red, "But the nightmares weren't enough." A trembling Zane is looking in horrified disbelief at a small, thin, wavy object that comes to a point and is streaked with red. The object glints near the tip with a cross-shaped white gleam. Behind Zane, Mercy is flying with her wings outstretched. ; Panel 6. The object is a corkscrew, the wavy metal part and cylindrical wooden handle both stained with blood. Light glints off of it in two places, forming two cross-shaped gleams. Zane is grasping it tightly in a trembling hand and looking at it with his mouth wide open and his eyes blank and terrified. The words "I had to *become one*" are written in red directly over the image, surrounding the corkscrew.